After drinking alcohol, man punches another man who fell and later died in hospital

SINGAPORE – Following an argument, Salvaduri Ahpiah Maniam punched a man he was having drinks with. The victim fell, hit his head and later died in hospital.

Mr Woo Jit Kuen, 66, was about 33kg – about half of Salvaduri’s weight – and 4cm taller than him at 163cm.

On Monday, the 53-year-old stateless man was sentenced to three years, six months and three days’ jail after he pleaded guilty to three charges, including one for voluntarily causing hurt that leads to grievous hurt.

The other two charges were for confronting a member of the public while drunk in a public place and breaching Covid-19 rules by meeting two friends to drink alcohol, eat and chat at a public place on April 18, 2020, during the circuit breaker period.

Court proceedings were ongoing against him for these two offences when he punched the victim.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Huo Jiongrui said Salvaduri arrived at Block 448 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 at about 2.30pm on July 3, 2022, on his bicycle, having had a can of beer.

He went to the nearby Singapore Pools outlet, intending to place bets, but decided to do so later after noticing a long queue.

He then saw two groups outside a McDonald’s outlet drinking beer and, recognising some of the people in the groups, he joined them.

At about 3.30pm, only Salvaduri, his friend S. Ponniah and Mr Woo remained. Salvaduri and Mr Woo, who did not know each other, were both drunk.

An argument soon broke out between Salvaduri and Mr Woo. It was not clear why they were arguing.

Mr Woo grabbed Salvaduri’s T-shirt and, angered by this and the argument, Salvaduri punched the victim in the face.

Mr Woo fell backwards and hit the concrete floor, and began to bleed from the back of his head.

Salvaduri soon realised that Mr Woo was not moving and that a pool of blood was forming on the floor.

Salvaduri called for an ambulance, but said Mr Woo had tripped, deliberately omitting that he had punched him to avoid arrest. He similarly lied to police officers and paramedics who arrived at the scene. After speaking to a police officer, he left on his bicycle.

Mr Woo, who was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, suffered extensive brain injury and died two days later.